Something Needs to be Done

[AlanF]

Dave, you have made some very good points and Barry re your question, 7 pages of ideas, no answer.

1. The VRA website needs updating, it needs to get people interested and keep them interested.

2. We need a publicity campaign, we have to get the message out as to what we are all about. Firearm dealers need to know what sort of equipment F Class shooters use.

3. We need to change our attitudes, not be so judgemental.

4. We need to get a class going for sporting rifles.

5. We need to be very welcoming to visitors and we need to be a bit professional.

6. Clubs need to look at their facilities. They need to be neat and clean. Check out a few golf clubs etc.

7. And at the end of the day its got to be good fun.


cheers
Danny

I can safely say that we can tick most of those boxes at Rosedale in the way we have operated over the last 5 years or so:

1. We have a range website that is updated weekly (almost ).
2. We publish weekly results in the local paper, local gun shops are well aware of where we are and what we do.
3. Apart from a few die-hards who are generally ignored, member attitudes are reasonable.
4. We advertised in gun shops for sporting shooters to come to an information and shooting day and got one taker.
5. In general visitors are welcomed and offered a shoot with a 6BR club rifle - but hunters who just want to sight in a rifle may have to come back when convenient.
6. Our facilities are substantial and adequately maintained.
7. Those who keep coming back must be having fun.

All that said, our membership is not growing at the rate it should be with the large numbers of sporting shooters with high power rifles we know are in the area. The problem I suspect is that we're simply not offering them the type of shooting they want. I have to say I SUSPECT because we'll never really know until we get some proper market research done....

Lets say for example we find a general theme that they want to get their hunting/tactical rifles shooting accurately out to say 500 yards. What we could do at Rosedale is have them shoot on Saturday morning at either 300 or 500. This could become a permanent arrangement. Some of them might want to stay back and shoot with F-Class in the afternoon. Or they may be having enough fun they'll just shoot Saturday mornings. Either way, the range membership is healthier. In a way, this is what F-Class has done for TR - it has boosted numbers and delayed the closure of some ranges that would probably otherwise be history.

Alan

[AlanF]

Not sure why the posts have stopped. Maybe I gave the impression I think F-Class is going the same way as TR. Well I don't - its still growing, but isn't now the best time to plan for future trends, particularly if we get some overflow into F-Class?

[Razer]

Until such time as the various governments stop treating us like lepers and will guarantee us range tenure then #6 is always going to be a problem
I have been hit by golf balls while driving past golf courses but, they do not have to have a safety template that is out of all proportion to their course, even if flying golf balls and chipped windscreens are bloody dangerous.
As a proven safe sport we are subjected to the most draconian rules and regulations regarding ranges.
One club in our district has been closed because part of the safety template was purchased. The club now has to negotiate with the new owner as to whether they can get his permission to reinstate the template. Meanwhile the range is closed until ???????
I would hazard a guess that with urban development there are quite a few ranges hanging on by the slimmest of margins.
If the range that I shoot on closes then it just about puts me out of the sport as the only, at this time, none endangered range is nearly 100 kms away.
You can get pissed at the golf course and still play(probably where all those 'over the road' balls come from?) Rifle shooters do the right thing and wait until they have finished shooting.
Socially, range activity is seriously curtailed compared to other sports, which possibly makes it less attractive.
There is a state of the art district shotgun range here and they have cut back on the number of club events and do not open every week, so it is not just rifle shooters.
As I see it, range tenure is paramount as no one is going to invest in expensive gear only to be told "sorry, range is closed, nearest one is Woop Woop".

[AlanF]

I agree that range tenure is paramount. But with ranges, there is a bit of "use it or lose it" risk, so for those ranges that are still used, I think one of the best ways of improving tenure is to build the membership, and also to have a diversity of uses, shooting or otherwise. In our case, we have a couple of horse clubs who share the use of the range. Politicians are more likely to back off a closure if several groups are badly affected.

[Norm]

Alan, how much interest do you get from potential new shooters, with the Rosedale web site.
I have had a few shooters contact our club after reading about it from the Moe web site but not a huge number.

http://www.austargets.com/moe.htm

[GregW]

A lot, if not most of our ranges have a template from army days. These templates were designed around hard jacketed FMJ's and machine guns, which also used "steel penetraters". Some ranges in the 1960's didn't even have stop butts. This is a far cry from the ammo we now use, and our practice of closing on the shoulder, and firing single shots.

Unlike the SSAA, most of our ranges were pretty much "given to us". Wherever possible we ought to obtain the freehold to the property, which, if for no other purpose, gives an asset if, and when, the particular range can no longer be used.

Greg Warrian.

[DannyS]

Ok, Allan, heaps of ideas.
So what next?

[AlanF]

Ok, Allan, heaps of ideas.
So what next?

Danny,

There hasn't been a lot of mention from states other than Victoria about declining numbers. I suspect that if the figures were known at least some of the other states would have a similar problem. Geoff Krake suggested making a start with Vic earlier in the discussion and I was reluctant, but in the light of what has (or hasn't) been said since, I tend to agree with him. Are you still there Geoff?

Here's my current thoughts on how we might proceed: Select a working group from our Victorian Forum members to plan then oversee the project. This group would need to do some thorough research into what we need to do to attract and retain members. I'm suggesting questionnaires directed at prospective members including range visitors, particularly the ones who decide not to join. I don't see anything wrong with the VRA being involved, possibly by having a Councillor in the group, as long as it doesn't try to steer the group in any way. The group needs to be free to come up with its own recommendations. I have actually heard that some market research might have been commissioned by the VRA about 10 years ago, so if that exists and can be made available to us then it could be quite useful. I know there have been many good practical ideas already in this thread, and I'd expect them to be put into the mix after we are confident that the needs have been fully identified, which I don't believe has happened yet.

As far as implementation of the recommendations goes, we then need to recruit key people in clubs across the state who are prepared to put the ideas into practice. If the recommendations will require changes to rules (e.g. creation of a new shooting class in the SSRs) then a submission would need to go through the normal channels (via the VRA in our case). This is where going it alone in Vic would be harder. If all States were involved in the group, or at least interested in following the Vic recommendations, then we could have submissions go in simultaneously to all State/Territory Associations, which has been shown in the past to have a very high success rate in getting things passed at the NRAA level.

How does that sound? That's just my initial thoughts, so it needs discussion.

Alan

[AlanF]

Alan, how much interest do you get from potential new shooters, with the Rosedale web site.
I have had a few shooters contact our club after reading about it from the Moe web site but not a huge number.

http://www.austargets.com/moe.htm

Norm,

We get a few enquiries via the website, and some from our contact number with the results in the paper. Often I refer visitors to the website so they can download the syllabus or find out a bit more about the range.

Alan

[bruce moulds]

alan,
be careful.
it could look like you are forming another vic fclass assn.
keep safe,
bruce.

[AlanF]

alan,
be careful.
it could look like you are forming another vic fclass assn.
keep safe,
bruce.

We've been sprung! Trust you to see through our cunning plan Bruce.

[Barry Davies]

I would have thought the Vic FC Assoc would have been leading the way?

[DannyS]

Who?

[RAVEN]

I would have thought the Vic FC Assoc. would have been leading the way?

Barry you are spot on this is one of the areas they could focus on
There are too many issues that are dumped on the State Assoc.
Members need to mobilise them selves to encourage new membership having a smaller focus group can put all their efforts into such things more efficiently. By the same token these groups need the support of the State Assoc.
We are all on the same side aren’t we?
RB

[TOM]

They only look after their members, The rest of us just affiliate with the VRA which do a more than reasonable job of looking after ALL of us.